Festival Survival Guide 2016: Part 1

Festival Survival Guide

We all see the pictures of Coachella; swarms of glamorous individuals, clad in the latest trends, basking in the Californian sun whilst being serenaded by some of the globe’s foremost musicians. We would like to tell you that you will be sunning yourself, looking like an A-list celebrity with a mojito in hand, but here in Britain festivals are done somewhat differently…

Yes, we get it, you want to look ‘cool’. Instagram is calling to be filled with photographs of you and the ‘squad’ sipping beers whilst enjoying some fine rhythms. We are sorry to tell you that this is not California, Instagram stars stage photographs and that it’s Britain so it will, inevitably, rain. Your on-trend apparel will be coated in mud, those expensive trainers may be ‘nicked’ or lost in mud that comes up to your knees, and that pretty crop top will not protect you from the Baltic winds. The solution? PACK SENSIBLY. Here are our suggestions for a festival survival kit guaranteed to help you embrace Great British weather and navigate other festival goers:

Clothing: do not take anything of value. You have been warned. Your clothing will suffer many perils at the hands of other festival-goers and your drunken alter-ego. Purchase some cheap clothing and set your outfit for each day. Charity shops are a great way to find on-trend, vintage gems that can be thrown away after the event. Ensure you have a jumper, a pair of long bottoms and some woolly socks to change in to should Mother Nature decide to give you a shower. This allows you to maintain your Insta-worthy glory whilst ensuring you’re not the colour of a Smurf. Keep plastic bags handy for items coated in mud/beer/bodily fluids, by keeping them separate you can throw them in the wash as soon as you’re home, or bin them. Wellies are an essential item regardless of the weather! A British classic, they pay homage to our culture, are comfy and always look fantastic.

Toiletries and medication: no matter what your campsite offers, it’s unlikely that you’ll be showering. To avoid looking like Stig of the Dump, miniature toiletries make life simple. The holy trinity of baby wipes, deodorant and dry-shampoo can keep you fresh (ish) whilst you’re running between stages. Sun-cream is also a must; heat wave, downpour or overcast it’s better to be prepared! Paracetamol, ibuprofen, insect repellent, multi-vitamins and indigestion tablets also come in very handy for the morning after the night before.

Day Pack and Back Pack: have a smaller bag ready to carry all of your valuables throughout the day. A bum-bag (or fanny pack) is an extremely safe, less likely to be lost, ‘Mr Motivator approved’ way to carry all you need! Your rucksack should be big enough to carry all of your other items, and can be left in your tent.

Tent: your source of shelter for the few days at the festival; although you may want to take an all singing, all dancing piece of kit with you, tents are often sacrificed to the festival gods in ritualistic ‘tent burnings’ also known as vandalism. Buy a cheap, light tent. Share with friends, body heat will keep you warm on the cold nights, and save on packing room by dividing the parts between your rucksacks. A quick note on guide ropes: they’re not to hold the tent up, they’re there to stop you getting wet. Pull them tight and secure them down, don’t neglect them or Mary Berry won’t be the only one moaning about a soggy bottom. Secondly, when navigating the tent jungle, watch out for these death traps, in the dark you could end up doing a less than graceful face-plant into mud or gosh-knows-what.

Looking to get in the festival spirit? Check out last years Glastonbury playlist: